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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

{reading} Apron Anxiety

The job I had in Washington DC was so overwhelming that some
days I literally could not get out of bed. I guess they call this depression,
but at the time I would have told you I was being lazy and couldn’t bear the
thought of putting on my stilettos, driving in bumper to bumper traffic and
parking a million miles away from where I needed to be to avoid (unsuccessfully)
yet another parking ticket.

I had no friends in the city and spent a disgusting amount
of time in my car. I planned my days around where I would eat lunch (by myself)
and on some of those days, the plan was to have a burger at Good Stuff Eatery.

Good Stuff was owned and operated by Chef Spike Mendleson, a
chef that I loved to hate on Bravo’s Top Chef. The burgers were out of this
world and fries with rosemary are still something that I crave.

About a month after Good Stuff opened I stumbled upon a
fabulously written blog about a woman dating a Chef and learning to cook in DC.
I could relate on many levels, feeling out of place and not good enough. It turns out that woman was the girlfriend of
Chef Spike. I was instantly a fan of her writing and followed the blog even
after I quit that horrible job and moved to Richmond. Alyssa Shelasky, just
released a book about her relationship, learning to cook and living in DC named
after her blog, Apron Anxiety.

Apron Anxiety, the book and the blog has seriously inspired
me. I am not a book reviewer, so it is hard to put in to words why I liked it
so much. If you are looking for a semi-foodie, semi-celebrity, full on
story-of-a-cool-girl book to read this summer, this is it.

Amazon Book DescriptionApron Anxiety is the hilarious and heartfelt memoir of quintessential
city girl Alyssa Shelasky and her crazy, complicated love affair with...the
kitchen.

Three months into a relationship with her TV-chef crush, celebrity
journalist Alyssa Shelasky left her highly social life in New York City to live
with him in D.C. But what followed was no fairy tale: Chef hours are tough on a
relationship. Surrounded by foodies yet unable to make a cup of tea, she was
displaced and discouraged. Motivated at first by self-preservation rather than
culinary passion, Shelasky embarked on a journey to master the kitchen, and she
created the blog Apron Anxiety (ApronAnxiety.com) to share her stories.

This is a memoir (with recipes) about learning to cook, the ups and downs of
love, and entering the world of food full throttle. Readers will delight in her
infectious voice as she dishes on everything from the sexy chef scene to the
unexpected inner calm of tying on an apron.

This book is entertaining and easy to read, does not require a lot of effort via the reader and yet not much of a payback other than light entertainment. I can't say the writing here is necessarily bad but it was very much about "me me me" and did not contain any universal themes about human beings, nothing for anyone to take away.

I think of a memoir as something that is a "me me me" situation, no? I took away inspiration that no matter in what situation you find yourself there is a way to make it and yourself better. A journey of self discovery that entertains is good enough for me.